Finding Elora

Chapter 13

ABBY

The word coin is misleading, and to say I'm pissed would be the understatement of the century. I've been deceived.

That's the only way to describe it.

I run my thumb over the small brass coin in my hand. It's about the size of a quarter, and I really thought I'd found something great when I found it in the grass just outside the park bathroom I've been using. I need coins, and this thing is most definitely a coin. It looks like one, smells like one, fucking feels like one.

But it's a liar.

"Are you sure?" I ask, turning to the cashier.

She looks bored, and she's still fiddling with the velx she was playing with when I approached the register. I'm getting the sense that she wants me to hurry up and leave so she can get back to it, and I really hope this wasn't the vibe I was gave off when I was a teenager.

I worked at the local grocery store for about a year, and I was annoyed with every customer who came up to talk with me. I hated my job, and I didn't put much effort into pretending otherwise.

The cashier seems the same, and it's nice to know faerie teenagers aren't so different from human ones. They're tall, freakishly strong, and can use magic, but at the core, the two are pretty similar.

"This isn't a coin?" I ask again, lifting my non-coin coin in the air.

It sure looks like one.

The cashier blinks, her purple eyes narrowed in confusion. Just a few seconds ago she was looking at me like I was crazy, so this is a positive change.

I push my hair behind my shoulder and set the coin on the counter between us.

It took me a good hour to find a damn grocery store, and now I feel dumb for how I strolled in here with my dick swinging. In only one day, I got a bus schedule and found what I thought was a coin on the ground. I thought I was on a roll.

I was ready to call today a vibrant success.

"I'm sure," the cashier says. "That's a half coin."

A fucking half coin.

I must look confused, and the cashier lets out a long sigh before turning to her register and hitting a few buttons. The till opens with a quiet ding, and I lift up on my toes to get a better look. There are three different colored coins inside, but no cash.

I suppose, given the faeries don't use paper, the lack of cash makes sense.

The cashier reaches in and grabs a gold coin. A coin is made of gold...how cliche. I resist the urge to roll my eyes.

It's always the gold coins.

She sets it on the counter between us, letting me get a good look. It's plain, with no images or details engraved on the top like in the human world. It's also impeccably clean, with not one dent or blemish to be found.

I bet it's magic that keeps them looking so good.

I glance between the gold coin and mine, comparing them with a frown. They're the same size and shape, but mine is most definitely made of brass.

"This is a coin," she says, tapping her finger against the gold.

She then points to my find. "And what you have is a half coin."

This is bullshit.

The cashier reaches into the register and pulls out the third coin. It's the same size and shape as the coin and half coin, but it looks like it's made of glass. I thought the same the first time I saw Samuel's velx, but it turns out those are made of condensed magic.